The convict said he was compelled to escape from prison for his mother and she was quite sad when she saw him in jail.

[Representative Image] Pictured: The handcuffed hands of retired general Benedicto Lucas Garcia are pictured as he arrives to a court hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice in Guatemala City, Guatemala, June 7, 2016.Reuters

TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and Bewitched have used the "evil twin" trope in their stories, fascinating many with the plot twist, but never, in reality, would one have imagined the existence of actual evil twins.

But it has happened. A man in Peru escaped prison by putting his twin brother in his place in prison. The convict was recaptured by the authorities this week.

This incident took place last year's January when the offender named Alexander Delgado was serving a 16-year sentence for child abuse and robbery and his brother Giancarlo had come to visit him, according to BBC. Little did he know that he would be drugged, have his clothes exchanged and left in his brother's place in the cell.

Alexander, after swapping places with his brother, walked out unchallenged wearing Giancarlo's clothes and showing his identification card. The police confirmed the swap only after the latter's fingerprints were taken.

A first, Giancarlo was arrested as they suspected he was involved in the plot, but eventually dropped the charges due to lack of evidence.

Alexander was on the run for 13 months until the police located him and captured him in the port city of Callao in Peru. The Ministry of the Interior had offered a reward of 20,000 Peruvian Sol (£4,400) for information to track him down.

Alexander is expected to be moved to a prison with maximum security in the southern highlands.

When reporters questioned Alexander after he was arrested by the police, he said he felt obliged to escape for his mother as she had been very sad seeing him in jail.

"I did it out of the desperation of seeing my mother that way," he said.

"Alexander Delgado Herrera escaped on January 10, 2017, from the Piedras Gordas prison, having himself supplanted by his twin brother. After several months of follow-up, he was arrested today by agents of the Kidnapping Investigation Division in Callao," wrote the Ministry of the Interior, Peru, along with a picture of the convict in the Twitter post.